Heat-Wizards Preview

By MATT BECKERPosted Jan 14 2014 4:53PM

After spending a day joking around with the President of the United States, the Miami Heat turn their attention back to basketball and their mini-skid.

Getting two starters back in the lineup and playing in Washington should help.

The Heat look to avoid a third straight loss Wednesday night against a Wizards team that's struggling mightily at home.

Miami (27-10) spent Tuesday at the White House, where President Obama honored the team for winning a second straight title.

"We've got some outstanding members of Congress who are big fans of the Heat that are (here) from both parties, because we all know nothing brings people together like the Miami Heat," Obama joked.

The Heat are again one of the favorites to win this season's championship, but they arrived in the nation's capital in the midst of a little funk.

After getting outscored by 15 after halftime in Thursday's 102-92 loss to New York, Miami suffered a 104-95 double-overtime defeat in Brooklyn the following night. The Heat made 6 of 23 3-pointers and LeBron James fouled out with 36 seconds left in the first overtime - the first time he fouled out in the regular season since 2008.

James fouling out meant Chris Bosh was the only regular starter to play in the second extra session for Miami. Dwyane Wade rested his sore knees after playing 39 minutes the previous night, and Shane Battier (strained quadriceps) and Mario Chalmers (strained Achilles) spent the game in street clothes.

Wade is slated to return and Battier, who has missed the last five games, practiced Monday and is hoping to be back. However, Chalmers didn't practice and could miss a fourth game in a row.

The Heat, who have lost back-to-back games three times this season, are trying to avoid their first three-game losing streak in the regular season since Jan. 10-13, 2012.

"We lost the last two on the road so we got to go out there and get a big one on the road," Wade said.

The Heat would seem to have a good shot at bouncing back in Washington, where the Wizards have dropped seven of eight. Strangely, Washington (17-19), which is opening a five-game homestand, won for the seventh time in nine road games with Monday's 102-88 victory over Chicago.

"We got to find a way to play a home game," guard John Wall said. "For some reason when we go on the road we're playing great, we're playing 48 minutes and we're winning. Until we figure it out at home we won't win no games."

Wall and Nene had 19 points apiece and the Wizards shot 52.0 percent against the defensive-minded Bulls.

The Heat are also considered a tough team to score on, but they've allowed an average of 101.9 points on 49.1 percent shooting in their last nine games. Coach Erik Spoelstra said defense was the focus of Monday's practice.

"We've had some slippage," Spoelstra said. "We need to get back on it. Our guys understand it. We were humbled this past weekend ... And we needed a day like today to get back to the basics and remind ourselves that we have some work to do."

James scored 16 in the first period against the Nets and finished with 36 points. He has scored at least 30 in four straight games, shooting 62.8 percent.

James had 25 points, Bosh scored 24 and Wade added 20 in the Heat's last game against the Wizards, a 103-93 victory Nov. 3 for their fourth straight win in the series.

Miami is 9-3 against Washington since acquiring James, and two of those losses came when he didn't play.

Copyright 2014 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Wizards hand Heat 3rd straight loss, 114-97

By JOSEPH WHITEPosted Jan 15 2014 11:19PM

WASHINGTON (AP) Raise your hand if you had Greg Oden as the Miami Heat MVP. Or if you had any inkling the Washington Wizards were capable of taking a 34-point lead against the two-time defending champs.

Or if you thought LeBron James and Co. would follow a White House visit by dropping their third straight against the heart of the middling Eastern Conference.

Oden played his first game in more than four years Wednesday night, and that might have been the only positive for the Heat. He played all of 8 minutes, 24 seconds and made a pair of dunks to help start a rally that had loads of promise - until it fell flat in the fourth quarter of a 114-97 loss to the Wizards on Wednesday night.

"They came here, whatever. Went to the White House, whatever," Wizards forward Nene said. "We just came here to play."

John Wall scored 25 points, and Bradley Beal and Nene had 19 apiece to lead seven players in double figures for the Wizards, who had their lead cut to nine before closing with a 17-9 run. They had dropped seven of eight at the Verizon Center, having blown a fourth-quarter lead to the Houston Rockets on Saturday in a game twice delayed because water was leaking onto the court through a hole in the roof.

Chris Bosh scored 26 points, and James had 25 for the Heat, who had been off since Friday and therefore had time to be feted by President Barack Obama on Tuesday for winning a second consecutive NBA title. For one half, the Wizards made Miami look like a team that will never again be invited to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Washington went on a 20-0 run in the first quarter. James had three of the Heat's six first-quarter turnovers. The Wizards, with their first sellout crowd of the season, taunted the Heat fans in attendance with the "Bandwagon Cam" that mocked those wearing the visitor's colors. Washington didn't even commit a foul until the 8:48 mark of the second quarter.

"They was playing at another speed," James said. "They was playing at, like, 15 and we was playing at, like, seven."

James paused, then corrected himself.

"Don't even gonna give us that much of a credit," he added. "We was playing at, like, five."

James said he even lost his voice during the second or third quarter. He was still hoarse after the game.

"We love adversity more than anything. We're definitely at that point," he said with a smile as his voice cracked. "As you can tell, my damn voice is gone. I gotta try to find it, too."

At least the Heat found Oden, who stepped onto the court for his first regular-season game since Dec. 5, 2009. He scored six points, going 2 for 3 from the field with a pair of dunks. He made both of his free throws and grabbed two rebounds.

It was Oden, of all people, who helped get the Heat going after the Wizards led 43-18 at the end of the first quarter and 64-30 during the second. Wearing No. 20 and with both knees heavily wrapped, he entered with 6:03 remaining in the first half and made an immediate impact: an offensive rebound, a dunk and a foul in 30 seconds.

By halftime, the score was 69-48. Oden also started the second half and played four minutes before sitting for the rest of the game.

"In a short amount of minutes tonight," James said, "he was pretty good for us."

It was Oden's first appearance in a regular-season game since fracturing his left kneecap while playing for the Portland Trail Blazers against the Rockets. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 draft also missed what would have been his rookie year because of a right knee injury. He has had three microfracture surgeries on his knees.

Oden said the Heat have "come up with something to keep me playing, not just to get me out there and get injured."

"So this is the plan and it's got me this far," he said. "It got me in the game."

Norris Cole's jumper pulled the Heat within single digits - 84-75 - with less than a minute to go in the third, but they never got any closer than nine. The Wizards had nine turnovers in the third quarter but only one in the fourth, and an alley-oop from Wall to Martell Webster put Washington up by 17 with 3:02 to play.

"We knew they were going to make a run," Washington coach Randy Wittman said. "That's still the best team."

NOTES: The Wizards began the day 1-14 against teams with winning records. ... The Heat hadn't lost three in row since the 2012 Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics. Their last regular-season three-game skid was Jan. 10-13, 2012. ... The loss ended the Heat's 22-game winning streak vs. Southeast Division opponents. ... Miami played without F Chris Andersen, who "landed awkwardly on his knee," according to coach Erik Spoelstra. G Mario Chalmers (strained right Achilles) missed his fourth straight. F Shane Battier was in the starting lineup after missing five games with a strained left quadriceps. G Dwyane Wade was back after resting his sore knees for one game. ... Washington shot a season-high 55 percent.

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Follow Joseph White on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP

Copyright 2014 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Notebook: Wizards 114, Heat 97

THE FACT: The Miami Heat have lost three straight for the first time since January 10-13, 2012.

THE LEAD:John Wall had 25 points, Nene and Bradley Beal each had 19 to lead seven Washington Wizards in double figures in a 114-97 win over the Heat.

Washington went on a 20-0 run to take a 36-12 lead late in the first quarter. The Wizards increased their lead to 34 in the second quarter. Miami rallied, but could get no closer than nine points.

Chris Bosh led the Heat with 26. LeBron James had 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Miami played in a funk after veteran Joel Anthony was traded to Boston in a three-way swap earlier in the day.

QUOTABLE: "It looks like we're mentally fatigued when we hit the floor." -- James on the Heat's struggles.

THE STAT: Miami lost for the first time to a Southeast division opponent since December 10, 2012. They had won 22 straight.

TURNING POINT: Once the Heat cut the lead to nine, Washington turned it on, and put Miami away. "I think we really took a toll on them," Wizards forward Martell Webster said. "In the fourth quarter, they didn't have anything left. Then we pulled away."

QUOTABLE II: "You have to own it. You can't just slide this one under the rug." -- Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra on his team's performance.

HOT: Wall was 7-for-14 from the field and made all eight of his free throws.

NOT:Ray Allen was scoreless, missing all of his five shots in 25 minutes. In his last six games, Allen is just 7-for-41 from the field.

GOOD MOVE: The Wizards were able to concentrate on beating the two-time NBA champs while the Heat went to the White House on Tuesday.

"They came here, whatever. They went to the White House, whatever. We just came here to play," Nene said.

BAD MOVE: James lost his voice during the game. In his post-game interview his voice was scratchy and said that he lost it during the second or third quarter.

NOTABLE: In his first game since Dec. 5, 2009, Greg Oden scored six points in eight minutes. He said his knees felt good, and his first thought after he scored on a dunk in the second quarter was: "It was a feeling of get back on defense," Oden said.

IN THE ARENA: The Verizon Center was sold out for the first time this season. The crowd had, naturally, lots of Heat fans. The in-house television feed made fun of the opponent's fans by pointing them out on "The Bandwagon Cam."